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Ambrose Bracken
Ambrose Bracken is the current Lord of Stone Hedge and head of House Bracken. Appearance Well built yet swiftly aging and far past his prime, Ambrose Bracken is a stout man in his middle fifties, whose taste for strong ales and fine wines has left his face with a constant reddish hue, marred only by the thick brown beard that adorns its lower half and conceals the marks and scars that come easily with age. Despite an outwardly strong and vital appearance, age has still taken its toll, and his once fearsome mane of bronze hair has greyed and rescinded beyond recognition, leaving the Lord of Stone Hedge gnarled and balding. His face itself is gaunt and thin and his many years within this realm have left countless wrinkles across his once mighty face, making his seem his age. Among other scars and past injuries Ambrose is missing the middle and index fingers upon his right hand, causing him to almost always adorn his himself with gloves, gauntlets or other fineries so as to avoid appearing weak and incapable. Biography Born in Stone Hedge 342 years after the conquest of KIng Aegon Targaryen, Ambrose Bracken was the first and only child of Lord Rodrik of Stone Hedge a man destined to be remembered by history only as the lesser brother of the famous knight: Ser Roger of the Kingsguard. It was for this reason, perhaps, that Ambrose’s life took the turns that it did and living under the shadows of a famous relative was enough motivation to see the future Lord of Stone Hedge through the formative years of his life. Though in later years Lord Ambrose would renounce the blade for a quill and the rough leather of a saddle for the comforts of a warm chair, the Bracken would begin his career as neither septon, nor a scholar and would instead dedicate his time to more martial pursuits. From a very young age, Ambrose was acutely aware of his desire to become a warrior, the heir to Stone Hedge had been raised on great tales of warfare and martial prowess and took great pride in the warrior history of his house, idolising such figures as King Benedict Justman, the brute of Bracken and even his own uncle who would visit from time to time and regale his family with tales of knighthood and chivalry. Ambrose took up the sword at the tender age of ten years, though he found himself hopeless outmatched, whilst other young boys took easily to the blade and the art of swordsmanship, Ambrose was gangly and somewhat frail and had a hard time keeping up with even some of the lesser members of the household, such as the cook’s son or the butcher’s boys, unable to wield his weapon with as much ease as those around him. This did little to damper his spirits however and he worked tirelessly to improve his swordsmanship to be at least on level with the average knight and man at arms. Whilst swordsmanship did not come easily to him the same could not be said for other talents and at only twelve years he was fast becoming one of the best archers in his father’s garrison (Though in truth there is not a lot to be said of the bowmen of Stone Hedge) the extra time spent improving his sword arms helping his build up the strength he needed to effectively draw and wield a bow. It seemed, however that the seven had a different plan in mind for the Bracken and he would never fulfill his desire to become a warrior, for at age fourteen whilst Ambrose was but a squire an accident forced the removal of two of his fingers, leaving him incapable of either drawing a bow or holding a sword. To fully understand Lord Bracken’s youth it is important to note some of the circumstances of his upbringing: he spent the majority of his adolescence and even much of his adult life under the rule of Lord Franklyn Tully of Riverrun, a man renowned for his piety and high regard for the faith of the seven. Due to this, Ambrose was heavily influenced by the teachings of the septons, in part because his father wanted to impress his liege by showing him House Bracken’s reverence for the gods, though also because as he grew older he began to sympathise more with their teachings, spending much of his time praying in septs and becoming quite the zealot. It was this zealous nature that would eventually, many years later, draw his attention to the happenings of the faith and the great schism of 375 AC. By this time he had become a lord in his own right and after marrying a childhood friend (A Piper of Pinkmaiden) a father of four children. For the most part he paid little heed to the growing tensions to the west and mostly ignored the mad ramblings of the lunatic who thought himself a god and the corrupt High Septon, though when the issue was brought to his liege, Lord Franklyn Tully he took a much greater interest. Lord Tully desired to speak with the zealots in an attempt to dissolve the issue peacefully, something which Ambrose was very grateful for. He sent his son and heir, the newly anointed Ser Benedict Bracken to watch over the proceedings, and serve his liege in any way that he deemed necessary, believing that to be the end of whole affair, though of course it ended in tragedy. Benedict’s body was never recovered and his family buried only an empty coffin. It was this loss that drove Ambrose to drink, and though he never rendered himself incapable of ruling it became apparent that the loss of his eldest son had made him a changed man. Thirteen years passed with little incident, other than the occasional scuffle, or border skirmish and by the time Ambrose Bracken had recovered from the death of his son Westeros was once more plunged into war. The Third Targaryen Rebellion marked a period of strife within the Riverlands as after the loss of the crown forces during the Battle of Smoke and Sorrow many Riverlords were unwilling to commit their forces to fight the Targaryen menace. Ambrose was amongst the Lords who stayed loyal to their liege in these matters even if it meant betraying his king, and he followed Lord Tully’s example in laying down his arms against the Targaryens, trusting the man to lead the Riverlands through these harsh times. This sentiment was not however, shared by the rest of his household and nearly three dozen Stone Hedge men, along with Ambrose’s two remaining sons would sneak off to join Lord Vance in his resistance against the Targaryen oppressors. Only three would return, and those that did were broken men, Lord Bracken’s only surviving son refusing to talk about the events that had unfolded in the war. Having lost three children (his only daughter dying in childbirth a few months prior to the rebellion) Lord Ambrose began to seclude himself, refusing the company of people and instead spending much of his time outside the confines of his castle, taking to **falconry** because, as he was oft known to say: “At least when a bird flies from the nest it is likely to return in one piece.” Since then, Ambrose’s rule has been a fairly uneventful one and he has strived to spend more time with the little family he has left. Recent Events Soon Family Ambrose Bracken Benedict Bracken D Hoster Bracken D Agnes Bracken Brynden Bracken Barba Bracken DCategory:House Bracken Category:Riverlander